WILLIAMSBURG, Va., March 14, 2011 – Fields and gardens at Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center living-history museums are rooted in a new Historical Gardens Vacation Package, available through summer at www.historyisfun.org/Historical-Gardens.htm.
Springtime is planting time for many of the crops, vegetables and herbs – types grown in the 17th and 18th centuries – cultivated at Jamestown Settlement’s re-created Powhatan Indian village and 1610-14 English colonial fort and at the Yorktown Victory Center’s re-created 1780s farm. Visitors of all ages may be invited by historical interpreters to help with turning earth, watering and weeding.
Principal crops are corn, a food staple of the Powhatan Indians that English colonists adapted to their diet, planted in early spring, and tobacco, with seedlings planted in mid-spring. Dozens of varieties of vegetables and herbs used in the 17th and 18th centuries for food, medicine, fabric dye and insect repellant are cultivated year-round at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center. Peas, carrots, lettuce, chard, onions and radishes are planted in the spring. Feverfew, wormwood, savory, rosemary, yarrow, coriander, sage, thyme, dill, oregano, chamomile and lemon balm are among the herbs – mostly perennials – grown at both museums.
In addition to the Powhatan village, colonial fort and replicas of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607, Jamestown Settlement offers an introductory film and expansive gallery exhibits chronicling 1600s Virginia in the context of its Powhatan Indian, European and African cultures. At the Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution, gallery exhibits and an evocative film portray the Revolutionary era from the perspectives of ordinary men and women. Outdoors, visitors can explore a re-created Continental Army encampment as well as the 1780s farm.
The Historical Gardens Vacation Package at www.historyisfun.org/Historical-Gardens.htm starts at $199 for two nights’ lodging and three days of unlimited admission for two adults to Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center.
Several other multi-attraction options are available at www.historyisfun.org/Vacation-Packages.htm. Admission tickets can be packaged with lodging and include free admission for children under 6 and free parking:
History Is Fun! A combination ticket to Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center provides unlimited admission to each museum for seven consecutive days and represents a 20 percent savings over individual museum admission. The ticket is $20 for adults, $10 for ages 6 through 12, and can be packaged with lodging.
